Author Topic: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!  (Read 23880 times)

Offline bluevan

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'82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« on: October 24, 2017, 09:49:03 PM »
Don't get me wrong - I love yard plows, especially crazy oddball ones.  For around a grand or so you can get a non-roadworthy bone that pushes snow and beautifies your property at the same time.  It beats snowblowing or paying someone to do it.  The biggest problem with having a yard plow is lack of use.  Mine sits around for 8 months and then every thanksgiving I need clean all the rodent filth out and give it mouth to mouth before it will run.  Been doing this for too many years and decided its time for a change.

My latest yard truck is an 89 K5 Blazer - its been a good soldier for ten years at least, but now it is totally wrung out.  The brakes are gone, the engine burns as much oils as gas, and the seats are falling through the floor.

The plan is to build a truck that will plow snow like a beast in the winter and be a fun toy the rest of the year.  I liked the short wheelbase of the K5 but decided that a pickup bodystyle would be more useful.

I decided to go with a shortbed 1982 GMC K10 that I found locally.  Yes, I know - why am I buying someone else's rotted out yard truck?  Actually I drove it home so its not technically a "yard truck" - and it was cheap.  It had a plow on it already, but I will probably use the one I already have so I sold it.  Also sold the bed, since I plan on putting on a steel flatbed in the end.

The truck came with a decent running 350/TH350/NP208 combo with 10 bolt axles.  Pretty much what you'd expect in one of these.

Let the fun begin..  I have had this truck about a year now, but only really started working on it in the last few months.  I will try and get everyone caught up.  I appreciate any input.

Bluevan



- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2017, 10:20:43 PM »
As I tore the truck apart the condition was worse than expected.  There was a ton of rust and I ended up doing as much cutting as unbolting.  After stripping everything off the frame behind the cab the rear 10 bolt was taken out.  Many hours were then spent grinding, scraping, and scrubbing the rear frame rails, brackets, and crossmembers.  All the rust and crap had to come off.

The undercoating was the worst part - it was stuck on like cement in some areas.  Used heat to soften it up, then scrape or wheel.  Once most the crud was off I switched to a scrub pad, wire brush, spray bottle filled with paint thinner, and lots of rags.  The thinner did a good job breaking up what was left and mad it easier to clean.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2017, 10:28:18 PM »
Craigslist got the best of me one night and I soon found myself driving down to RI to buy some CUCV axles.  The junkyard had two M1008s they were parting out, so I ended up buying both sets of axles because they were selling them at a decent price.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2017, 10:51:50 PM »
I chopped all the brackets off the 14 bolt and ordered up some new ones.  I also got a set of 2200# springs.  Here is the rear end under the frame when it was being test fitted.  This process would have been a little bit easier if I replaced the spring perches one at a time.  Then I could have found the new bracket orientation by simply matching the angle of the other one.  I wasted a bunch of time measuring the old axle.  Once it was all tacked and bolted in it was pretty easy to find the locations of the shock brackets and tack them in too.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2017, 11:13:41 PM »
All the new brackets were burned in for good and the housing cleaned.  I am probably going to regret it, but I ditched the giant drums and got some disc brake brackets.  Took the hubs off and put them on some K20 front rotors.  I will worry about a parking brake later.  I reused everything in the axle with exception of the hub seals, axle flange gaskets, and cover gasket.  The bearings seemed good - they got repacked and it got new fluid.

The rear frame section and rear end were painted with POR-15 and top coated with rustoleum semi-gloss black.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2017, 11:22:02 PM »
Now its on to the front..

Ill add some more posts soon and get this thread up to date on this project.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline fitz

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2017, 04:04:48 AM »
  It funny how cleaning up an old yard truck quickly   becomes a frame off project.
  Nice score on the CUCV axles. The 4.56 gears & Detroit locker will be great for plowing.  I've never found a CUCV in a junkyard before.

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2017, 09:27:25 PM »
Believe it or not, but this can of worms was actually planned!  Im sure that there are still a lot of worms in there still waiting to come out too.

The axles will certainly make a difference.  I am thinking that an overdrive transmission should be considered.  I could swap in the 700R4 and NP241 from the K5 to achieve this, but they need to stay put for now so I can plow snow.  The crossmember with skidplate could also be used.

Since this transmission is longer, I imagine the front driveshaft from the blazer would be needed as well, but I would have to find one to fit the rear.  I know that the crossmember needs to be relocated further back, but how about the linkage bracket on the frame? - the one on the drivers side that has a plastic bushing in it that the linkage pivots on.





- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2017, 09:45:15 PM »
The more complicated front of this rusty pig came next.  I had to cut 3 out of 4 cab bolts and one on the radiator support after days of soaking with creeping lubricant.  I even took a hole saw to the floor behind the seat to get a the top of the rear cab bolts with the lube.

The need for a piece of equipment for lifting had become apparent.  By sheer luck I found a sweet electric hoist for sale locally.  It was filthy and the pendant needed to be rewired, but the $75 price tag was hard to beat.  After fixing it up and putting in new fluids, I hung it from a 3/4" threaded rod that goes up through the ceiling.  The rod goes up to the second floor and through a 6x6 that spans six joists.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2017, 09:49:25 PM »
The hoist worked out real slick.  Before long I had the cab plucked off the frame and rolling around on a dolly.  At this point the family is starting to realize what I meant by "fix up this truck".
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline fitz

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2017, 09:51:22 PM »
The trans linkage will be fine.
As far as needing an overdrive trans, a lot of that depends on what size tire you run and how much highway driving you do.
My M1028 with 33's is comfortable right around 62 mph on the highway. I can push it faster, but I try to avoid it

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2017, 09:53:48 PM »
No turning back now!

Engine and tranny being lifted out.  Im running out of space to put all this crap!
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2017, 10:06:27 PM »
The good news is that the frame around the steering box is in decent shape.

The bad news is that there is a crack on the passenger side of the crossmember that runs under the engine, but this should be an easy fix with the welder.
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline bluevan

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2017, 10:19:28 PM »
The worse news is that the rear cab crossmember has some pretty bad rust.  Ditto for both radiator support brackets on the front.

These all got chopped off the frame.  The front brackets are available aftermarket, but not the crossmember.  After searching for a while I found one from the south for $65 on ebay.  These parts will end up being bolted on since I don't have a giant rivet machine.  Putting the new cab crossmember in might be a challenge without cutting it in half first.  Anyone done that before?
- Joel
1982 GMC K10 (work in progress)
1989 Chevy G20 Van
1994 Chevy Impala SS
1974 Landcruiser (Chevy powered)

Offline 1967KaiserM715

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Re: '82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2017, 05:10:36 AM »
I had to replace my rear crossmember too, it will fit by angling it in, it fits tight, a little persuasion with a hammer may be called for.

Some of the holes were a tight fit for 3/8" bolts, the ones that were a little looser I drilled out to 7/16, you want these bolts as tight in the hole as possible.

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Current Vehicles:1985 GMC K10(Daily) 1991 GMC K2500(Daily) 1975 Beetle(not running) 1985 Mercedes 300D(not running) 1952 M35    1967 M715(not running)
 1986 Chevy K30(under repair)